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Back in 2015, visionary and advocate Gustav Metzger launched one of his final important works. Recognized for creating auto-destructive art, Metzger had devoted his career to addressing human struggles from nuclear disarmament to ethical eating. Through a short video message, he issued a call for a worldwide initiative to honor the environment.

“I call upon you for your involvement in this worldwide call for a day of action to commemorate our planet on the fourth of November, 2015,” he announced, encouraging artists and creatives to stand against the continuing disappearance of living beings. “The mission is to help the public recall of the abundance and sophistication in nature … and by doing so art will enter realms that are inherently creative.”

The Inception of Remember Nature

And so the environmental art day was established, a day when creatives nationwide developed works to the ongoing environmental crisis. One of the curators, who supported Metzger in his later life, notes his drive for action. “He had a great sense of urgency for him at the end of his life,” she says. “I just said – we must act now. We shouldn’t hold back for financial support or for anyone to authorize this. Let’s just do it.”

Ten Years On

After ten years, Remember Nature hasn’t quite incited the mass movement across the arts that Metzger had hoped for, but organizers feel its influence can still be observed in movements like cultural advocacy groups and climate activism networks, as well as in how artists approach the eco-friendliness of their practices. This is the reason she is restaging it to commemorate its 10-year anniversary. Part of the 18 lead artists involved this time are A Man Called Adam and other notable figures. All participants have designed posters, shared messages, and created artworks set to be revealed on the fourth of November next year.

Cultivating Awareness

In conversation with Anya Gallaccio, she is working outdoors in a rural area, assisting with planting apple trees that will create a spiral-shaped orchard. Collaborating with schoolchildren, her project is part creative piece and somewhat instructive. She describes, the design and cultivation sessions have already involved learning about measurements (spacing the planting intervals), science (discussing the genetic makeup), and geography (tracing the journeys of how various cultivars came to the UK).

A lot of the apples were chosen because they’ve got amusing labels such as the other unusual varieties. We have one apple that releases red juice

“A lot of the apples were selected because they’ve got amusing labels such as the Bloody Butcher,” the artist notes. “We have one apple that releases crimson liquid. They all have stories behind them. The ancient variety was brought over by the Romans. The local breed is the apple that fell from a tree and hit the physicist’s head.”

The artist aimed the children to be more actively aware of nature and the power we have over it. “In their experience, apples were just things you buy from a supermarket, so I was prompting them, when they go shopping, to read the label and see the variety and where they were grown. Ideally it reads Kent!”

Artistic Responses Throughout Britain

At the capital, Youngsook Choi’s work about extinction will engage visitors exploring an art institution on a quest to find the ice masses that have been disappeared in modern times. All formations will be depicted on the exhibition spaces using invisible ink. When located, a bell will ring and a performance will be conducted to commemorate that individual formation.

At the same time, up in a northern town, an artist will be hosting a public show about our separation from nature, as well as hosting a shared meal, cooked from organic, local produce. Further north, an artist is sharing her musical project, in which regional performers undertake a task to perform for vegetation in a green space.

Children’s Voices

Like Gallaccio, a featured creator will be working with schoolchildren – on the day itself she is aiming to decorate an art space in youth creations that express their aspirations and concerns for the future. “Children’s words and images are powerful because they’re not as restricted as mature perspectives,” she says in her public appeal. “What children have to offer to the world is something truly special and it may stimulate a feeling of duty from each person. Children are innocent. They have fears about the future. But it isn’t meant to be about fear – it should be about hope and our responsibility that they have a tomorrow.”

Tributes and Thoughts

Another artist’s work also resonates for children. Drawing on past experience, his feathered initiative involves illustrating avians and then performing as birds – and for the initiative he is intending to represent Liverpool’s famous Liver bird. He is also conducting a guided walk of the city, visiting various sites that have been part of his long-term work over the recent decades. The project commenced following he experienced three incidents of homophobic abuse on a one occasion. As a reaction, Harfleet decided to place a bloom at the location of every incident and photograph it – the project has since grown to include incidents shared by other people across the world. “The flowers remain there but they don’t often last,” says Harfleet. “Reportedly wildlife enjoys them, so they’re a ephemeral memorial.”

He picked the pansy not just for the obvious reason – it has long been a term of homophobic abuse – but also because its etymology comes from the French verb, penser, to think. “People connected it with a man who is thoughtful, and that, of course, is a terrible thing,” he says.

The plan on the event day is to plant pansies at fresh spots and also refresh the memorials in places he has marked earlier, all the while talking to those on the walking tour about the occurrences and his personal experiences. “I’ve recorded quite a few after my previous work,” he says mournfully.

Moving Forward with Hope

He desires his work – and